Sampling

Question 1

what is the target population?

Answer 1

The group that the investigator wants to study and generalise the findings from

Question 2

What is a sampling method?

Answer 2

Way of getting the participants from the ‘sampling frame’

Question 3

Opportunity sampling

Answer 3

where the p’s in the sample frame are readily available and are willing to take part in the research

Question 4

advantages + disadvantages of opportunity sampling

Answer 4

✔️fastest way to get a sample for psychology research
✔️reduce the cost of the research
❌researcher bias - picking certain types of people
❌lack of population validity as certain types of people are picked

Question 5

Random sampling

Answer 5

Each member from the target population has an equal chance of being selected

Question 6

advantages + disadvantages of random sampling

Answer 6

✔️Avoids researcher bias
❌Can produce an unrepresentative sample for example only male participant
❌time consuming as it requires a complete list of the target population

Question 7

Volunteer sampling

Answer 7

Participants from the target population offer to take part after finding out about the research eg through ad, social media

Question 8

advantages + disadvantages of volunteer sampling

Answer 8

✔️ easy sample to collect as participants are putting themselves forward without the researcher making an effort
✔️Can which large number of potential participants
❌Sample may not be generalizable to the target population because of the Volunteer bias only certain types of person may choose to volunteer

Question 9

Stratified Sampling

Answer 9

People in the sample frame from the target population are split into groups depending on their characteristics

Question 10

advantages + disadvantages of stratified sampling

Answer 10

✔️More likely to get a representative sample as they reflect all the subgroups
✔️Avoids researcher bias as participants are randomly selected from within each stratum
❌ time-consuming to work out the proportion
❌Researcher bias as characteristic of the participants is picked out specifically

Question 11

Systematic sampling

Answer 11

Every nth person from the target population is chosen to form a sample

Question 12

advantages + disadvantages of systematic sampling

Answer 12

✔️avoids researcher bias
✔️quick way of selecting p’s if a list of target population is already available
❌Unrepresentative as you select few members of one gender
❌ difficult to get a complete list of target population